Can Reiki Classes Be Taught Online?

by William Lee Rand

Until a year ago, I did not think that teaching Reiki classes at a distance or online was something I would be doing. This is because I did not think that the energy needed to do this was available to support this form of teaching to make the classes as effective as teaching in person. However, after the COVID-19 virus pandemic became a problem, I began researching this subject, and I discovered information and had experiences that gave me a different perspective.

However, first, let me give you a little background. I moved to Hawaii in 1975, and at that time, as still now, I had a keen interest in metaphysics and personal development. I had studied several forms of healing and also worked with a Hawaiian Kahuna for a year. Because of this interest, I was led to Reiki and was initiated into Reiki I in 1981 and then to Reiki II in 1982 by Bethel Phaigh, who had received her Reiki training, including Mastership from Mrs. Takata. I also had the good fortune to have met and had discussions about Reiki with Harry Kuboi, and Beth Gray, who also received their Master training from Mrs. Takata. 

After I received the Reiki I attunements, I went for a walk by myself, and the energy spoke to me; by this, I mean that the energy gives me intuitive impressions. The Reiki energy told me it is an energy that can be developed. And as I contemplated this idea, I understood more clearly that it is an energy that has a greater potential than what most people at that time were making use of, and that it is possible to develop one's ability through the guidance of the Reiki energy to channel ever higher and more effective qualities of this energy. It appears to be a process that the higher levels of Reiki energy understand and know how to develop in those who seek it.

Because the Reiki energy told me this, I was motivated to pursue this possibility, and in my pursuit, I requested that this development would happen not just for myself, but asked that the guidance I was given would lead to developing a system that could be shared with others.

In addition, the Japanese Reiki master, Hiroshi Doi, with whom I have also taken the Reiki Master training, and who is a member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (the organization Usui started after he discovered Reiki), obtained notes from one of Usui Sensei's students who attended one of Usui's classes. The notes state that Usui Sensei taught that the most important task for a Reiki student to undertake was to continually seek to increase the quality and quantity of the Reiki energy one can channel. This indicates that Usui Sensei understood that there are higher and more effective levels of Reiki energy that are possible to discover, and that it is our responsibility as Reiki practitioners to seek to make use of this higher potential.

Also, the Kahuna I had worked with said he had studied with nine other Kahuna's and that the way of Huna is always to be a student and request guidance in one's quest to find appropriate teachers who would add to one's understanding. So, following this learning style, and knowing that each Reiki Master has unique experiences and has gained important knowledge and skills from the Reiki energy, I was guided to study with five Reiki Masters, including two from Japan. I found that while much of their knowledge and methods were similar, each had an additional understanding that the others did not have. So, this method of studying with more than one Reiki Master also increased my understanding of Reiki.

In the last several years, I had the good fortune to meet Robert Fueston, a Reiki Master who is a member of the Reiki Alliance. The Reiki Alliance was formed by the Reiki Masters whom Mrs. Takata trained after she passed on in 1980. Robert is a Reiki researcher and explained his research philosophy to me. It included several points that I found commendable. First, he wanted to get accurate information about how Mrs. Takata taught and practiced by interviewing the Master students Mrs. Takata trained that were still living. Second, he wanted to present the information as accurately and honestly as he could. In 2017, he published his book titled The History and System of Usui Shiki Reiki Ryoho. I have read his book, and he did an excellent job explaining the results of his research.

In this book, on page 298, there is information showing that when it was necessary, Mrs. Takata taught students at a distance through letters and phone calls and by using what she called remote initiations. For example, she gave remote initiations when the student was in the hospital or was far away and in obvious need. Robert also includes a copy of a letter handwritten by Mrs. Takata to a student in which she explains that she will be giving the initiations to this student at a distance and indicates she does this sort of teaching when the conditions require it. There is further information that she did Reiki Initiations remotely in material Robert received from Marta Getty, another of Mrs. Takata's Reiki Masters.

It was with this understanding, that in March and April 2020, I sought a solution for teaching Reiki classes when the COVID-19 virus made in-person Reiki classes no longer possible. I meditated with the Reiki energy and asked it for guidance. I also asked for help from Usui, Hayashi, Mrs. Takata, and other spiritual Masters with whom I am familiar. As part of this process, I sent them Reiki and asked them to return it to me with the energy necessary to solve the problem that the virus had created for teaching Reiki classes. I did this with one of my Reiki students, Colleen Benelli, an excellent clairvoyant healer. And during this process, we received an initiation directly from this group that gave us the ability to teach Reiki classes online.

To verify that it did work, I followed my guidance to create a Reiki class that would upgrade a Reiki Masters ability to teach Reiki classes online. I taught the class and then asked the students to indicate what they experienced and if, when they taught online, they also received verification from their students that it worked.

We began teaching and in the first class were students who had been teaching Reiki Masters for many years and therefore were experienced healers. After taking the class, they indicate that the online class worked very well, and the energy was even stronger than their previous in-person classes! I know this may seem to go against what many think they understand about Reiki, but the results prove it is true. And many of them wrote comments about what they experienced in class. Read their comments.

Since then, I have taught all my classes in this new online style. And in fact, the students are very happy about what they are receiving, and they too have continued to teach their Reiki classes online and get similar results.

This development is a solution for two of the serious problems that COVID-19 has created: The Reiki energy strengthens the immune system, helping people avoid getting sick or recovering faster and with less illness if they get sick, and teaching Reiki classes online provides a safe source of income during a time when many are out of work, and the economy is in a recession.

I believe it is important to trust in the guidance of the Reiki energy and follow the guidance one gets. Therefore, if a person is considering if this is a class that would be beneficial to take, I suggest they meditate on it and ask for guidance from the Reiki energy. Then follow the guidance they receive.